Chapter 906: Chapter 904: Subtle Guidance Is Difficult
Jiang Yifan watched from the side and felt that Jinrong’s conversation couldn’t continue in this way. He called everyone to take their seats, "We’re all busy, let’s get down to business first. Once things here are settled, we still have to go back to our duties."
He came today mainly to support his wife. If there was any danger of exposure, he would step in to help.
Yuan Shang also led two young attendants to refill everyone’s tea and skillfully added fruit trays and snacks.
"Yes, yes," Jinrong said, "I also came to hear what ideas Ye Zi and Wong Qiao have about improving the smeltery workshop. Who would like to start?" He was asking everyone but his eyes were on Ye Xinyan.
Ye Xinyan, on the other hand, was thinking about how to minimize her role and presence in this. She turned to Wong Qiao: "Wong Qiao, what do you think?"
Wong Qiao hadn’t said much earlier. Firstly, because it wasn’t appropriate for him to speak much in this setting where Jinrong and others were engaging in banter; secondly, because he was still pondering over the air supply issue of the smelting furnace.
"Yesterday, I heard Ye Zi and the smeltery craftsman discussing that the low output in smelting is due to low furnace temperature. Ultimately, it seems the root cause is the insufficient air supply to the furnace. Do you think I’m right?" Wong Qiao looked at Ye Xinyan and asked.
Jinrong, having listened to Zhang Chang report the process of this trip and Ye Xinyan’s responses to the craftsman’s questions, also looked at Ye Xinyan as he heard Wong Qiao’s personal viewpoint.
Ye Xinyan nodded repeatedly, inwardly praising Wong Qiao, and what she said next didn’t seem abrupt.
"I think the same. I was afraid I might have been mistaken, but it turns out Wong Qiao and I think alike. In that case, we can try heading in this direction. Do you have a specific solution in mind?"
Wong Qiao organized his thoughts and said, "I’ve considered using wind blades to rotate, or creating a reciprocating motion in an enclosed space like bellows to generate airflow."
At this point, Wong Qiao shook his head in denial, "However, using this method to generate a large airflow would require high rotational or pushing speeds, which manpower simply can’t provide. This approach is fundamentally unsolvable."
Before anyone else responded, Jiang Yifan was already surprised and in admiration of Wong Qiao’s answer.
Having listened to Ye Xinyan’s explanation yesterday, while he still didn’t fully understand how the steam engine worked, he understood some of the capabilities of a steam engine.
So, he knew that Wong Qiao’s answer pointed in a very right direction, exactly following what Ye Xinyan hoped for.
His Ah Yan was right; placing the right person in the right position to do the right thing is indeed an art, a profound art.
Ah Yan’s ability to judge people was incredibly accurate, as Wong Qiao indeed turned out to be a natural craftsman.
Ye Xinyan pondered for a moment. Based on her previous guiding thoughts, she tentatively said, "I’ve heard that by using a waterwheel, through various mechanical transmissions, you can increase speed and force to achieve things that are difficult by human strength."
Problems that are hard to solve by manpower?
Wong Qiao, troubled since yesterday by these issues, seemed to have found a direction to tackle after hearing Ye Xinyan’s guidance. He asked, "I know a waterwheel can turn a millstone. What is this waterwheel you’ve heard of used for? What is its structure?"
Zhang Chang, who often oversaw projects and was somewhat familiar with mechanical structures, listened with interest when Ye Xinyan spoke, open to learning from the exchange.
How could Ye Xinyan point out where to use such a device? As for its structure–that was even more out of her reach.
Mechanical conversion is not difficult, and the steam engine’s structure and principle are simple to discuss. But such simplicity comes from the early steam engine, improved by many people, reaching an ideal result.
If she provided an ideal answer now, wouldn’t she be defined as non-human by this era?
It was impossible for her to be an Immortal Sister. As she was so mundane, down-to-earth, and money-minded, how could she share anything with an Immortal? It would have to be monsters and devils, with a terrible outcome.
It’s hard being human, and harder still being a transmigrator, Ye Xinyan sighed.
She smiled wryly and shook her head, "I don’t know about that either. I just think that for something like this, having a target and an initial idea is enough. As for the implementation process, we can experiment and take various approaches. Such a big endeavor can’t be done in one go."
Jiang Yifan helped out Ye Xinyan by interjecting to ask Wong Qiao, "Ah Qiao, if you were to change the rotational direction and increase the speed of a waterwheel, could you do it?"
On matters concerning mechanical structures, Jinrong and Jiang Yifan only had a superficial understanding. As for the attendants, hearing Ye Xinyan and Wong Qiao’s exchange, they felt a bit lost, as if listening to something beyond them.
But that didn’t prevent them from looking at Wong Qiao with anticipation. These profound questions were ones they hadn’t heard before and didn’t understand at all.
Wong Qiao, feeling embarrassed under everyone’s gaze, thought — what exactly is this when it hasn’t even taken shape? Why are these people watching him so intensely? But if it’s only about changing rotational direction and speed, he believed that with calculations and experiments, he could manage.
"If there are materials and manpower, I can give it a try," Wong Qiao answered rather diplomatically. He thought for a moment and continued, "Peach Grove’s Mechanical Workshop, and Master Shi, who is even more skilled than I am in this area, with our combined efforts, given time, I believe progress will be made."
Ye Xinyan breathed a sigh of relief. Wong Qiao’s understanding of mechanics was even better than she hoped. Step by step, first getting the usage and conversion of the waterwheel right would lay a solid foundation.
Of course, she could find another time to give Wong Qiao some guidance. If they could start directly with using steam, that would be the best and most convenient.
She looked at Jinrong, considering that the Mechanical Workshop in Peach Grove was split into three shares. It wasn’t an issue that Jiang Yifan and she invested in the steam engine. Now it depended on what Jinrong thought.
Jinrong was surprised: "Why are you looking at me? Investing some Silver Coin for the future of the court and the world is worth it. Don’t look at this king that way; as long as the work is done with care, other matters can be discussed. Investing Silver in business naturally involves some risk, and this king can bear it."
Jiang Yifan also nodded to Wong Qiao. His stance was even more firm, because Ah Yan had told him before that in her world, those Foreign Lands where creative craftsmen lived, they didn’t have wealth in their own hands to support long-term trials and experiments. Most research costs came from capital investments by wealthy individuals.
He was now very accepting of this new concept.
"Ah Qiao, feel free to proceed. Don’t worry about the Silver and manpower," Jiang Yifan said.
As they discussed investments here, on the side, Zhang Chang, who had been listening attentively to Ye Xinyan and Wong Qiao, still had some unclear points. He went over to ask Wong Qiao.